


I Found Love (Where It Wasn't Supposed To Be)

by ymnfilter



Series: ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* naru's quarantine and chill fics *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:02:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ymnfilter/pseuds/ymnfilter
Summary: 4 times Felicity Smoak was Oliver Queen's Before Anyone Else and 1 time it was the other way around.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Series: ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* naru's quarantine and chill fics *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720573
Comments: 26
Kudos: 313





	I Found Love (Where It Wasn't Supposed To Be)

**Author's Note:**

> Arrow season 2 was superior, change my mind.
> 
> a one-shot I wrote back in 2018 but its cute so here you go <3
> 
> as always, this isn't a Laurel friendly fic where Tommy is alive. Also, Ray Palmer is a creepy creeperson in arrowverse and him turning into a time traveler will not change that fact. 
> 
> HAPPY READING!
> 
> tumblr: [ @ymnfilter ](https://ymnfilter.tumblr.com/)

1.

John Diggle supposes he shouldn’t really be surprised anymore. He’s only seen this Felicity person Oliver goes to for technical help a handful of times, and he’s talked to her even less, but John knows that Felicity is probably the brightest person he has met in his life, and he knows he’s seen Oliver almost act giddy whenever they have to go to her for technological help.

So, so doesn’t know why he’s surprised at Oliver’s lack of irritation at their failed mission. They were supposed to catch Reid Meister in the act tonight. But, the warehouse had been empty, and the 3 hours that they had spent coming up with a plan and scouting the place was all a complete waste. John was sure that the lack of shooting people with arrows was going to ruin Oliver’s mood for the rest of the night and then John will have to suffer through it in the form of awkward stony silences, and too-hard punches during sparring.

Sometimes he really wonders how long he and Oliver can brood and work out in a dingy basement before they lose their minds.

And Oliver had been annoyed, and John could see him preparing to work out all of his frustrations either on John or the workout dummy, but then his phone had rung.

FELICITY calling…

The phone sat innocently on the med table, closer to Digg than it was to Oliver, and John absentmindedly wondered when Oliver went through all the trouble to save Felicity’s number on his phone with a pretty picture of her smiling at the camera saved with the number.

“Who is it?” Oliver asked roughly, already working up a sweat with his pull ups,

“It’s Felicity.” Oliver froze mid-pull up at John’s reply, “You think she has something on that Graham case?”

But, Oliver didn’t answer him, he just walked over to where Diggle was, his body almost vibrating with all the extra adrenaline and a small smile on his face as he accepted the call and softly said “Hey” into the receiver,

John’s eyebrows reached his hairline in response as he watched Oliver nervously rub his index and thumb finger rubbing together, and a smirk played on his face,

Home boy was smitten.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be right there.” His voice was still soft, and so was the smile on his face as he hung up. He cleared his throat and looked back at Diggle, once more a gruff and broody vigilante,

“I need to go. Felicity thinks she found something on the Graham case.”

“... And she can’t just send you all the “info” on your laptop.” Oliver was silent, his eyes narrowed,

“I… need to make sure she isn’t freaking out, and won’t call the police with the information she found.”

“Uh-huh.” John mock-agreed. His excuse was flimsy as hell. Felicity was smart, both Oliver and Diggle knew she wasn’t buying any of his excuses, and if she hadn’t called the police yet, there was very little chance that she will call them now, “Sure.”

Oliver didn’t pay him much attention, instead, he went over to wear he had tossed his t-shirt and picked it up, sniffing it lightly before recoiling, “I need a change of clothes.” He looked down at himself, “And a shower. I definitely should shower.”

Somehow Diggle didn’t think Felicity Smoak would mind a sweaty Oliver Queen, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

When Oliver did come back from meeting Felicity, a bright green post-it note clutched in his fingers with the address they’d been looking for for a week and a half, but which Felicity found out in under 10 hours, it was with a certain lightness in his steps and creases near his eyes from where his smile touched them.

2.

Tommy wasn’t sure what was up with his best friend. It didn’t matter how many girls Tommy introduced him to, Oliver always just grinned charmingly, and politely excused himself from the scene. It was getting frustrating, because all Tommy could think about was that the only reason why Oliver wouldn’t want to sleep with other women was that he was trying to prove to Laurel that he could be a faithful boyfriend.

And as much as Tommy loved Oliver, he also loved Laurel, and he knew that the minute Laurel realized that Ollie was serious about getting back together, Tommy would be tossed aside like yesterday’s trash. And maybe Tommy should find someone else to love. Someone who he wasn’t scared would leave him as soon as a better option arrived, but he had loved Laurel for so long, and these five years that Ollie was missing, as painful as they had been, had also been filled with fantasies of starting a life together with Laurel,

Then Oliver suddenly comes back home, even more buff than before, with a mysterious air to him that attracts more women to him than ever before, and Tommy is so glad to have his brother back, but he also kind of wants Oliver to screw up and screw someone so that Laurel would settle on him instead.

And isn’t that just the most pathetic thought ever?

That’s why they’re at ‘The BlackBox’ tonight, and Tommy has been trying his best to get Oliver drunk and parading women in front of him, but he’s almost given up. Oliver is just as easy going as before, but there is also a heavier aura behind all that nonchalance that keeps throwing Tommy off. So, Tommy’s sure that Laurel and Oliver will end up getting together eventually, and Tommy will be left pretending it wasn’t a big deal. That it was just one of those girls that Tommy didn’t get.

Forget the fact that Laurel was _ the _ girl for Tommy.

And Tommy has just begun to drown his sorrows in vodka martinis when he hears Ollie suck in a deep breath next to him, he turns to find him staring at someone with eyes wide, jaw loose and lips parted like he’s suddenly seen the gates to heaven or some shit. Tommy looks over where Oliver is looking, and lets out a slow whistle,

There’s a gorgeous blonde on the other side of the bar, her hair in pretty curls falling over her shoulders and her mouth painted a bold red. She’s wearing a dark green lace cocktail dress, with matching matte green heel boots and gold fingernails. 

She’s laughing at the other two women who are sitting with her and arguing, and he can see Oliver go completely rigid beside him,

“ ‘licity.” He thinks he hears Ollie mumble, and Tommy turns to him confused, but Oliver’s already walking over to the girl. Tommy raises his brows,

Okay. So sometime in the five years that Oliver’s spent on the island, his type has gone from brunette to blonde. Tommy can work with that. Tommy keeps looking as Oliver walks closer to that woman, discreetly wiping his hands on his jeans and stumbling slightly before catching himself and suavely placing his arm behind the girl’s stool,

Tommy can’t hear their conversation from this far away, but he can see as the other two women’s jaws go slack in surprise and recognition, and he can see the blonde girl’s eyes light up in a way that tells Tommy that it isn’t the first time those two have met each other. Oliver and her talk for a few minutes before he extends his hand in clear invitation, his head tilted towards the dance floor. The girl blushes, but accepts his hand, and Tommy watches, wondering if he’s hallucinating, as both of them make their way to the middle of the dance floor, dancing to Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’.

Oliver ‘I-don’t-dance’ Queen.

Dancing.

Tommy doesn’t think he really needs to worry about Ollie going after Laurel after this.

3.

Thea doesn’t know how exactly she convinced her brother to spend the day with her. He’s been crazy busy ever since he took the CEO job for Queen Consolidated, and though she is proud of him for finally taking responsibility, she also misses him so much. Every time she meets him these days, he is surrounded by two people constantly; his bodyguard, John Diggle, which makes sense, because you know, he is supposed to guard her brother, but also his EA Felicity Smoak, whose constant presence is a bit harder to explain seeing that Oliver and her go everywhere together. It’s very surprising for a girl to hold Ollie’s attention for that long. She’s with him from at least 7 am every morning when Mr. Diggle picks her up and arrives at the Queen Mansion so that she can brief him on his agenda for the day, all the way to at least 9 pm at night when she usually sees Oliver and her in the club, either making rounds or talking business.

In fact, she’s pretty sure Oliver’s EA spends more time with Ollie than his bodyguard does. Which is just weird, because how much help can an EA really be?

But, none of it matters. Because, Thea is here, at the Starling city mall, window shopping with her brother like she hasn’t done in years, and she’s looking forward to a few quality hours. But, they’re only an hour into their brother-sister excursion, and have only just entered Sephora when Thea stops talking, because her brother stops listening.

Thea furrows her brow as she watches Ollie stare at someone ahead of them, and turns her head quickly to see his EA testing out lipsticks at one of the stations with a contemplative frown on her face. She huffs out an amused breath. She has never seen Oliver’s attention divert over to something else so quickly, but sometimes, it’s almost like the moment he sees Felicity, the rest of the world just stops existing till he makes her acknowledge his presence too. And just as she’s made that realization, Oliver walks ahead, completely forgetting the sister he had been talking to not one minute ago, and quietly taps Felicity on her shoulder,

The woman squeals, the maroon lipstick dropping on the floor, thankfully still unopened, as she turns around with a hand to her chest,

“Oliver! What are you doing here? In Sephora?”

And seeing as now Felicity has officially acknowledged his presence, Oliver turns back to Thea as he continues to speak to Felicity,

“Thea and I are spending a day at the mall.” He frowns at the lipstick as he picks it up, “Isn’t this a bit too… dark? For you?”

Felicity grins, “That’s exactly what I was thinking! But, you know, the gala we have to attend next week?” 

Thea realises that this isn’t just a ‘hey! What a coincidence meeting you here’ kind of a conversation, and follows her brother and stands next to him as he nods at what Felicity is saying,

“I was planning on wearing something white. And I thought that maybe going with a darker makeup would make the whole outfit so much prettier.” Then, Felicity pouts, looking down at the lipstick like it just stole her candy, “But, I know I won’t be using that color again, so really, is it worth it?”

Oliver shrugs, “If you want it, I could buy it for you.”

Thea’s eyes widen, but Felicity just looks at him, exasperated, “How many times do I have to tell you? If you keep saying stuff like that, I’m just going to ignore you.”

Thea stops his brother from saying something further, liking this Felicity person who won’t even let her billionaire boss buy her a lipstick,

“You know, I do have the same shade. And I will be attending the gala too. We can get dressed together. And maybe we can share makeup.”

Felicity looks surprised at the suggestion, but Thea continues,

“I know we haven’t met. But, I see you like _ all the time _ , and seeing how smitten my brother is with you, I know you aren’t really going anywhere, so why not?!” Thea chirps and then stretches her arm out for a handshake, “Hi. I’m Thea Queen. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

Felicity looks slightly confused, and there is a bemused smile on her face as she shakes Thea’s hand, “Felicity Smoak. I’m Oliver’s-”

“Girlfriend.” Thea finishes for her just as Felicity says “EA.”

Felicity’s eyes widen, a blush rising over her cheeks, and oh god, this woman is adorable. Next to her, Oliver chokes, but he doesn’t deny anything, and Thea grins,

“Right.  _ EA _ .” Her tone is deliberately unconvinced, and she snatches Oliver’s hand before either her or Oliver can reply, “Anyway, I’ll call you, Felicity, and we can set up a time, okay? Bye.”

They leave her blushing and stuttering slightly, and Thea rolls her eyes when she sees her brother look back at Felicity till she’s out of sight. Only then does her turns to Thea with a frown,

“I’m not smitten.” He says.

“Sure, you’re not.”

4.

The gala had been for a fundraising event to build an orphanage in the glades. Laurel was only the assistant district attorney, but she had been able to attend because the DA had asked her to be his plus one. She had been grateful and anxious at the same time. It had been a while since she had attended one of these high society events. The last one had been as Tommy Merlyn’s plus one. But, he had broken up with her right after the glades fell, and while Laurel never really understood the reasons for that particular decision on his part, she also knew that they were never really meant to last long term.

Since then, Tommy had started to date this Caitlyn person, who lives in Central city. When Laurel had asked, Tommy had vaguely told him that he met the girl, (A doctor? Scientist? Doctor-Scientist?) through Oliver and his EA, which had been a weird answer all on its own because since when did Oliver know anyone from Central city, and even if he did, how did Oliver and his EA of all people have mutual friends?

But, Laurel hadn’t wanted to look like she was jealous (she hadn't been. It just had been a bit of a shock to see Tommy on a tabloid with some other girl who wasn’t wearing a party dress but instead a nice professional pantsuit) so she hadn’t asked too much, thinking that maybe she’ll find out more if she ever met this Caitlyn person face-to-face.

Tonight seems to be the perfect opportunity to do that. Laurel looks around till she finds Tommy standing next to the buffet, one arm around Caitlyn’s waist. The woman herself looks very beautiful, in a dark navy floor length dress, and Laurel takes a breath to calm herself before making her way over to the couple. Tommy and her had ended their relationship rather amiably. There is no reason why this interaction should be awkward. 

Laurel has just reached them when Ollie himself comes into view, patting Tommy friendly on his back and pecking Caitlyn’s cheek in greeting. Laurel’s smile widens. Ever since Ollie took over the company, it’s like he doesn’t have any time for his old friends, and Laurel thinks that this is the perfect time for them to slowly start to rekindle their relationship. After all, it is quite rare for both of them to be single at the same time.

“Oh hey, Ollie, Tommy… Catherine?”

Caitlyn smiles politely, “It’s Caitlyn, actually. Caitlyn Snow. You must be Laurel Lance. The ADA? It’s nice to meet you.”

Laurel’s smile turns a little strained at the girl’s genuine friendliness. Shouldn’t she at least feel a little threatened? After all, Laurel did date her boyfriend.

“Laurel? What are you doing here?” Tommy asks,

“Actually, Adam Donner invited me as his plus one.” She turns to Oliver, “What about you Ollie? Come alone?”

“Actually, she’s running a little late.” Oliver says, a frown on his face as he searches around the room, he stops halfway through, eyes lighting up, “Nevermind, there she is.”

Laurel followed his gaze to where he was looking at the blonde woman standing at the entrance getting her coat removed. She wore a pretty white cocktail dress, her hair in a complicated updo and dark makeup. She seemed to catch Oliver’s eye because she smiled widely at their group and gave a tiny wave before walking over,

“Laurel, this is Felicity Smoak. She’s my date tonight.” Oliver introduced her when she had reached him, his hand on her waist,

“Hi.” Felicity greeted, before turning to look at Caitlyn, “Oh, you look gorgeous!” They hugged, and then Felicity turned to Tommy, who smiled widely at her, and Laurel realised that all four of these people knew each other really well,

“Well Smoak, gotta say, you sure clean up nice.” Felicity giggled as Tommy bent down to kiss her cheek, and reciprocated the compliment. 

Laurel looked around her, at Tommy with his girlfriend, and at Oliver with his… Felicity and her mood soured. How is it that she ended up being the fifth wheel in this scenario? She straightened slightly, and placed her hand on Ollie’s arm, giving him a warm smile when he turned to look at her with a frown,

“How’s QC going?” She tried, anything to move their conversation from Cisco and Barry’s oblivious flirting, whoever those two were. It was weird. Both Tommy and Oliver having friends that Laurel didn’t know about. But, Oliver seemed genuinely happy to talk about his company, because he smiled and nodded his head slightly,

“It’s going well. For a while, I thought I was gonna be completely in over my head, but Felicity has been a saving grace.” He said, squeezing Felicity’s waist in acknowledgment and Felicity smiled back at him. Laurel struggled to keep her own in place as the two looked at each other, and promptly forgot everybody else around them,

From the corner of her eyes, Laurel saw Tommy and his girlfriend share a look and a fond roll of eyes,

“You know,” Caitlyn said softly, only meaning for Tommy’s ears, but Laurel heard her anyway, “We talk about how oblivious Barry and Cisco are, but these two are ten times as bad.” She said teasingly and Tommy laughed, nodding agreeingly,

“Come on,” He said then, reaching for Caitlyn’s hand and walking over to the dance floor, “Those two are going to be a while, and I want to dance with my girlfriend.” He spared a passing glance and a twitch of lips towards Laurel, “It was nice catching up. We should do this again.”

He said it politely. The way Laurel used to tell him yes to another date when she didn’t really want to but had nothing better to do. It made Laurel grit her teeth. But, the last thing she wanted to do was make a scene in front of two of her ex-boyfriends and some of the biggest names in business. So she nodded. 

She watched Tommy and his girlfriend walk over to the dance floor, then turned back to her other two companions. They were still looking at each other, talking softly, Oliver’s fingers playing with the lace on Felicity’s dress’ neckline. The other hand holding Felicity’s gently. Not as assured as it would have been if they had been a couple, but definitely not  _ just  _ friendly

Laurel huffed, then decided she needed a drink and walked away to the bar.

+1

Ray Palmer took a deep breath and then exhaled, willing his stiff muscles to relax. He had a meeting with Queen Consolidated’s CEO Oliver Queen for a project that Palmer Tech had been working on for the past two years but which he wouldn’t be able to complete unless they collaborated with QC by using the SQ Power Cell, the largest source of electricity known to man, produced and manufactured by and only by Queen Consolidated. Ray couldn’t mess this up. He just couldn’t. And while under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have felt so intimidated at the prospect of meeting Oliver Queen (the man hadn’t even graduated from  _ college _ for god’s sake), he had built quite a reputation in the business world as someone with great intuition. The man could spot a bad deal a mile away, and Ray just couldn’t  _ couldn’t  _ mess this up.

His board of directors would have his head.

The elevators to the executive floors opened, and Ray plastered his 100 watt charming grin on his face as he crossed the hallway to Mr.Queen’s EA’s desk. His steps faltered slightly though, we he saw who it was,

_ Felicity Smoak. _

Ray had never met her before, but he knew who she was. Of course he did. She graduated summa cum laude from MIT in 2009 with a master of science in Computer Sciences and Cyber Security when she was only 19. She was extraordinary. She was also beautiful. He looked at her now, standing too far for him to notice her yet, he took in blonde hair, framing her face like curtains, those baby blue eyes, magnified behind her glasses as she peered into her tablet, a little furrow between her eyebrows telling him she was too concentrated to notice anybody and anything else.

Ray wondered if he could get away with just staring at her for a while.

Then a throat cleared, and both he and Felicity jerked, Felicity looking up from her tablet, and Ray tearing his eyes away from Felicity to where a rather large man was staring him down intimidatingly with a glare. The man crossed his arms, and unwillingly Ray’s eyes strayed over to his biceps,

_ Like tree trunks,  _ he thought with a gulp. 

Felicity followed the other man’s stare and then finally looked up at where Ray was standing. Her eyes lit up in recognition, and Ray’s heart beat like a humminbird against his chest,

“Good Afternoon. You must be Mr.Palmer. Mr.Queen is waiting for you with our CFO in the conference room.” She got up, came over to direct him to the hall across, “If you’ll follow me.”

And that’s when Ray realised something even more surprising than finding Felicity Smoak working at QC.

Finding Felicity Smoak working at QC as the CEO’s personal assistant.

What was a girl like her  _ doing  _ working a job like this?

Ray didn’t say anything though. The last thing he wanted to do was come across a creeper. Or a stalker. He needed this deal to go well. He could talk to Felicity Smoak afterwards.

Ray didn’t know what compelled him to turn his head around right then when he was following Felicity into the conference room, but he did. And he found the large man still looking at him, his face cold and his jaw ticked. Their eyes met, and the man brought up his hand, pointing at himself and then slowly, at Ray. 

The universal hand sign for ‘I’ll be watching you.’

Ray raised a brow in surprise. 

_ Okay then.  _

When they entered the conference room, Oliver Queen was in deep discussion with their CFO, if Ray’s memory served him right (it usually always did) the other man was Walter Steele. Oliver’s stepfather. The two stood up to greet him when they heard him come in, and finally, they started the dreaded meeting.

Ray was surprised when instead of leaving, Felicity took a seat next to Oliver Queen, between him and Mr.Steele.

He was even more surprised when she contributed to the conversation instead of staying silent.

He was downright flabbergasted when she picked out every single point from the contract Palmer Tech had built up that was even slightly unfavorable for QC.

By the end of the meeting, Ray had accomplished nothing but a promise to polish up wht contract further before presenting the deal again. It was clear that he and his team had underestimated Mr.Queen’s ability to pick out such miniscule technicalities out of their contract, considering the man was probably the only CEO on this side of the state who didn’t have a degree of  _ any  _ sort.

Ray Palmer had also not been expecting a Felicity Smoak to be hiding under Oliver Queen’s sleeve.

Ray was going to wait for Felicity to be alone before he tried to talk to her, but when he realised that she was going to walk away with Queen, he scrambled to stand and get her attention. If not now, he will have to talk to her in front of the bodyguard, and Ray really  _ really  _ wanted to avoid seeing that guy ever again.

“Ms.Smoak!” He called out, and both Felicity and her boss paused at the same time, turning around to face him in sync. Ray would find it creepy if he didn’t think it was intimidating as hell.

“What can I do for you, Mr.Palmer?” Felicity’s smile and voice were polite. But, she was also discreetly checking her watch. Ray realised he didn’t have a lot of time to convince her to come work for him instead. He spared Oliver Queen a queasy glace before focusing back on Felicity,

“I was hoping I could speak in private?” Next to her, Oliver’s jaw clenched, and he glared at Palmer in annoyance, and Ray realised, a little belatedly, that asking someone’s assistant’s to have a private conversation made him look like a  _ dick. _

“Whatever you want to say to Ms.Smoak, you can say in front of me.” Queen told him with gritted teeth, his hand moving and placing itself low on Felicity's back, and for the first time, Ray wondered if he was missing something. Immediately, he raised his hands in a placating gesture, he  _ really  _ didn’t want Felicity to think he was a pervert,

“It’s not like that, I swear! It’s nothing… sordid.” Ray was going to leave it at that, but it was like his mouth had a mind of its own, “Not! Not that you’re not pretty, because you are! You are… wow! But, it’s not just how hot you are. You’re smart too! Of course you are. Went to MIT, graduated with a double degree on scholarship and all. At 19 too! It’s just- I don’t think your boss will appreciate me trying to recruit you to my company while I’m trying to strike a deal with his company-”  _ Oh god oh god oh god  _ Ray tried desperately to shut his mouth. Queen’s glare had gone from annoyance to full on  _ angry  _ and Felicity was looking at him with a weird combination of flattered and creeped out. She took a step back, further into Queen’s hand where it was resting on her back, and Ray whined inwardly, “I’m sorry. I’ll stop talking. It was  _ so  _ rude of me-”

“How do you know so much about me?” Felicity asked him, cautiously, and because Ray’s mouth hated him, and because he could still hear his heart beating in his ears, he said the first thing he thought,

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you since college.”

If possible, Felicity’s eyes widened even further, and Oliver actually took a step  _ in  _ his direction, looking intimidating as hell and like he would really like to punch Ray in the face. Felicity’s hand on his arm stopped him though, and she was looking thoroughly creeped out now,

“I’ll have to decline your offer, Mr.Palmer.” She said tightly, “I happen to like my job here at Queen Consolidated. As for the project, while your idea is brilliant, it’s nothing QC can’t accomplish on it’s own with the SmoakQueen powercell. I trust you can show yourself out?”

She walked away without sparing him another look, pulling Queen with him, who was still glaring at Ray menacingly. Ray, whose feet seemed stuck to the floor of the conference room, two thoughts running through his head,

_ His board was going to kill him. _

_ SmoakQueen. He hadn’t known that’s what the SQ Powercell stood for. _

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and Feedback are always appreciated! 
> 
> tumblr: [ @ymnfilter ](https://ymnfilter.tumblr.com/)


End file.
